Samanayrs

Festival of New Spring fell on a gallant day - soft, clear blue skies; warm, shining sun; and a brisk breeze. The musical laughter and whinnies of the Samanayrs gathered together by the Song of the Blazing Meadow floated aloft as they milled and pranced and tromped about in the great field. Tasty flowers and bountiful varieties of fruit had been arranged in colorful rings about the grounds and Samanayr-sized troughs had been flown in and filled to the brim with water sweetened and mixed with all sorts of delicate and sometimes fanciful flavors. All seemed to be going well, except at one little spot off to the side...

Breath of the Spring Meadow stamped his hoof into the soft earth as his verdant eyes flashed, "For the last time, no, you're not welcome here. How many times do I have to say it?!"

A hard edge appeared in Misery of the Windswept Rain's voice, "This would be the second time. And only because I pointed out that everyone was invited, even me. 'Come one and all' is what the mares said."

Spring Meadow snorted and managed to nearly growl, "Two times for you, maybe, but it was four times with the Misery before you, three times the one before that, and seven times for the one before that. And do you know why I keep having to say it? Because you Miseries are only good at misery! I was polite, I gave second and third chances, I tried, but this time, no. One Festival of New Spring without a huge sour note in the middle, one. That's all I'm asking for, and here you are to ruin it!"

"I...regret your past troubles," Rain said in near disgust and near anger, "but I'm not those other Miseries."

"Doesn't. Matter." Spring Meadow squared off and dug in as he faced the other stallion. "Even if you're perfect, the moment word gets out that you're a Misery, someone is going to come looking for trouble, and when the cacophony settles, won't matter who started what! If I knew who they all were, I'd run them off instead with an easy heart, but I don't, so I can't, so it has to be you. It's not fair, but you staying isn't fair to me or the rest either."

"Then deal with not fair. It's the best I'm ever going to get." Cerulean eyes narrow as Rain's wings rise to a hover above his back and his chest bears up before the apparent challenge. The Misery couldn't decide if he should be pleased or annoyed that it wasn't much of a challenge given that he was easily the larger of the two, and even more easily looked the stronger and meaner if it came down to it.

"You kno...Eah... ...Gn!" Spring Meadow let out a great, seething sigh, bit off abruptly with a chomp of his teeth. A heavy breath later, "...Please, just leave, alright?" He couldn't quite keep his gaze on Rain for the weight of it, and his head dipped with the sense of defeat too. One last plaintive glance up into Rain's hard eyes, "I'm begging you, can you be better than the rest by walking away...? Please?"

Rain felt his teeth begin to grind and jaw try to lock from clenching. "Fine." He nearly spat the word, and his ears fell back and flat. It was all he could do to keep his temper from bleeding through his vision as he spun around and stepped off without at all looking where he was going.

Mystic of the Aether's Defiance nearly rolled her eyes yet again as she browsed through the offered fruits, attempting to ignore the various young stallions nearby, all boasting about their latest triumphs. Or supposed triumphs, at least. She nearly snorted at the latest tale from them, her ears swiveling to catch the story, even as she nearly smacked her face into the rock the current fruits were offered on in exasperation.

Finishing her mouthful, she turned, nearly at her wit's end. She'd been trailed all gathering by pretty much the same group of stallions, all interested in starting a song with her. Or rather, with the fact that she was a Mystic. That she was not interested in starting a song with any of them didn't seem to have sunk in. She'd lost count of how many times she'd told them of that fact, and yet they didn't seem to get it.

Apparently her coloring was far too intriguing for them to get the hint and leave her alone. She snorted at that thought, her mother was far more colorful than she was, her aunts as well. Her father's coloring was understated, simple, aside from his legs and lightning marks. Annoyance having fast turn to a steadily burning anger, she marched right into the group, interrupting the story in progress.

"- and then I took out three Miseries, using nothing but my antlers!" one young stallion was boasting, tossing his brilliant red rack in the air, chest puffed out, smug expression on his face. Of course, once Aether's horns impacted his rump, he quickly lost his swagger, yelping in surprise.

"Of all the hair-brained ideas," snarled Aether, past the anger stage and well into pissed off fury. "You have no magic, do you really think you could stand against three full grown Miseries? You wouldn't even last against one, never mind a half-grown colt!" Sputters of outrage came from the young stallion as he tried to straighten up and reply to the furious mare in front of him. Naturally, that only ended up in him landing on his rear as she swung her horns at him again, the dark tips faintly glowing with the barest suggestion of blue-purple lightning. Not that it was very visible, of course, in the bright light of the day.

"You half-weaned youngling," she snapped, wings mantling above her and mystic strands starting to sway in the blossoming breeze. The smell of ozone in the air was quickly increasing, and all around them, Samanayrs were starting to move away, getting out of range of any magic that might be let loose, and quickly making it obvious that there was a problem brewing. "The only match for a Misery is a Mystic or a Mystery, you fool! And even then there will be injuries! The only ones who could possibly be unharmed would be Elementals! And you think you could take on three?"

"And I suppose you have experience with them?" The fool-hardy stallion spat out, glaring up at the angry Mystic in front of him. "Acting so big and mighty, you've spent time around them, have you?" he sneered, his tone and look implying the obvious. The young stallions still backing up their friend shuffled backwards then, exchanging glances and eying the Mystic with wary eyes.

The mare went still then, before slowly shifting and standing up to her full height, head held high, suddenly cold eyes staring the stallion in the eyes. "I have," she said simply, clearly, words falling like rocks in the sudden silence. "I am Aether'sDefiance~Mystic, second daughter of the Song of the Endless Clouds. My father is WeepingClouds~Misery, who helped fight the great dragon-bear. My mother is ForbiddenSun~Kiss, who won first place in the very first race. My sisters are Lightning'sKiss~Misery and Deluge."

With that, she snapped her wings open, and launched herself into the air above the gathering, intent on getting away from all of the small-minded idiots she seemed to constantly be surrounded by.



(*facepalms at Aether* Oh my goodness you were chatty! And cranky >> So, bit of background, for her horns glowing! She's an air mystic, but her father's a storm mystic, specializing in lightning, aka Tris from the Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce, or sort of like Thor XD So I'm playing with that a bit, giving her the ability to sort of sprout static electricity when she gets pissed >> She can't control it otherwise XD *goes and faceplants in chemistry again*)

As wandering away went, Rain didn't take a very direct route, but he was in no mood to alter the course he had set, and the fool stallion he left behind had thought twice about correcting him after seeing Rain's last, dangerous glance back and the curl of lip revealing the Misery's teeth, a few of which being rather pointy for a Samanayr. It was a dare Spring Meadow knew better than to take, and all of it ceased to matter when he finally noted the commotion arising around on obviously Mystic mare.

What's going wrong now? Spring Meadow thought with a grimace and dashed in to break up the gaggle of youth-brash stallions hounding his guest like the dogs they apparently were. But alas, too late. Spring Meadow barged in among them just in time to get a blast of wind from Aether taking flight. Oh, no no nono-no... Maybe it wasn't a complete disaster yet, or so he hoped as he desperately looked around for a samanayr with wings to help him, only to find himself staring at the benighted Misery. Desperate times...

"Windswept Rain! Windswept Rain!!!" Spring Meadow shouted over. "Apologize to her for me and you have a deal!"

The Misery had been an all but blind bottle of rage on four legs until the scent of ozone tinged with something else tugged his attention away from the haze of thoughts within his head. Steps slow and cerulean eyes drift to the mare and her entourage, or the shouting match between the mare and some more fool stallions by all appearances. ...Had that Mystic just claimed a Misery for a sister?

Rain paused his steps completely to watch Aether's Defiance take flight with more than a few others joining in when his ears flicked up and swiveled in recognition of his name the second time it sailed overhead. He glanced at Spring Meadow with a curious expression for the request, and offer... But an excuse to fly down a Mystic? Sure, why not. He had some flames to burn out anyway. Rain spread his wings with a snap, leapt into the sky like a bolt, and veered quickly in pursuit of the departing mare.

Back on the ground, the group of stallions watched the pair fly off with wildly varying expressions - wistfulness, disbelief, and anger to name a few.

"Did you just...?"

Spring Meadow gave a certain youth the body check of his life and glared darkness and doom at the loud-mouthed stallion, "Shut. It." His smile that followed was danger itself, "Unless you want your ballad to include the day you insulted a Mystic to flight?"

Aether let her wings and magic speed her on, taking her fury out on the air currents around her. She had enough control to not spoil the gathering for the rest of the samanayrs still there (despite what she might wish to do to a certain foal-stallion), but had no reservations about using it to add a bit extra oomph to her speed. The static charge on her horns hadn't lasted long once she got into the air, her anger bleeding away as the air embraced her.

Truthfully, she was more frustrated and exasperated than really angry. How hard was it to understand "Not interested" and "No"? What she wouldn't give for a mature stallion, someone who would listen to her and accept her! She wouldn't even mind if he had a mare or two already, to be honest. Not that she wanted to be the last mare in a Song, but being second or third would be fine.

Of course, actually finding a stallion who would accept her, her heritage, and her somewhat odd fascination of Miseries was pretty much non-existent, at this point.


Aether's furious flight had slowed as her thoughts calmed, and she was mainly coasting along now, buoyed by the air currents she had created, her wings flapping just enough to keep her up and give her forward momentum. Her thoughts and attention were, for the most part, wholly internal, with only the barest bit of attention paid to her surroundings.


(*shakes fist at the mare* You need to chat, so that you can actually create the song missy! Sorry, muse died for a bit XD *wrangles it back to work*)

The faint scent of ozone might be imagined at this point, but the disturbed air currents Rain flew through were certainly not. The mare was using magic to aid her escape, and he was perversely thrilled for it. The Misery's wings rose to the challenge, and he loosed his bottled rage to bleed heat through muscle and limb. The surge of power he felt in that moment, and of air ripping through his fur, sustained him through the long moments where he didn't seem to be making ground at all.

Time and perseverance changed that, slowly but surely, and by the time Rain caught up to the Mystic, he didn't mind that her flight had slowed considerably. The ire he had felt was little more than a faded crosswind now, and a relaxed pace had become reward and relief to his wings. A feeling, almost like being purified, swept through Rain as he coasted above and a little behind the mare and his breath begin to slow.

Below, wings like the moon and midnight sky spread out upon the winds, flapping quickly only here and there. Touches of violet colored her grey, and the edge of bright haunches had Rain wonder how she would look from another angle. The mare presented him a few other questions too, so he tilted his wings into a easy dive.

"So what did he say that had you storm off?" Rain called over as he sedately swept past the Mystic then up a touch to check his dive and settle in off her wing. He bled a little more speed to drift a bit behind and below so her voice wouldn't have to carry so far, the wind whipping up the Misery's mane all the while. Truth be told, he would rather have held off showing the mark of his kind, especially to a Mystic, but being an unknown stallion and holding the superior position in flight was impolite at the least.

(( ::Chuckles:: She'll get there! And speaking of wrangling in muses...Erf. ))

Aether let out a yelp and flailed for a moment in the suddenly heavy air, as something large swooped past her and settled in nearby. Her magic kicked back in for a moment, letting her wings get themselves straightened out (and resulting in her not falling out of the sky, thank you very much). Tilting her head down to give what-for to whoever (or whatever) had startled her, mouth open and ready to deliver a scathing message, she blinked in confusion as the sight she saw.

Grey skin, white splotches, lovely blue-white shaded wings, back mane, horns, wait, back mane? He was a Misery! She felt something within her swell with delight. It had been ages since she had met with another Misery, mostly it had been Sa'kriens and occasionally a few Damageds. Her eyes swept his form again, delighting in the view.

She paused in her sight-seeing for a moment, staring at his back, he had asked her something, hadn't he? Blinking, she reviewed her memories, and finally replied, "They wouldn't take no for an answer." Head still tilted, she hummed softly under her breath for a moment, before continuing, "I didn't intrude on your territory, did I?" Her father might be a Misery, but both him and her mother had drilled manners into at least two of their three offspring!


(*bangs head against the writing block* I started this about half a dozen times, blargle!)

Figures.

Rain snorted his disdain into the wind. Had he ever been like that? Hard to say anymore. Might have been, could have been, but now it just seemed like those yearlings had half a head between the lot of them. "Would have done the same as you," Rain sang over. A sharp cant swept back his ears and a wicked gleam took to cerulean eyes, "For their sake." As someone would have walked away bleeding and the rest would be staring down a spectre of fury otherwise, which, no matter how well it worked or good it felt, left him a bit more of a pariah in the end. So yes, taken to wing.

Amusement and regret had given him a stab for startling her flight, and the two sparred again at holding her question in further suspense. Meanwhile, the stallion's attention slowly drifted across the mare's flank. Color and shadow, bright and dark, blended through her coat - quite the unique one, this Mystic. And she was talking; might as well not botch it.

"No, not my territory. Misery of the Windswept Rain greets you, and if the lady would land, I have a message from Breath of the Spring Meadow."

((I know how you feel! My brain imploded the last few days. >.< ))

Aether hummed in delight at his response to her reason why. Oh, she liked that reasoning! So many stallions these days seemed to have no clue as to social niceties. "I would have liked to have seen that," she admitted, voice just loud enough so that he could hear her. Her father would not be exactly pleased at this burst of blood-thirstiness she was feeling, but she supposed he hadn't exactly grown up in the same environment that she had. Somewhat obviously!

She let her wings drift her a bit sideways, wanting a better look at the stallion. Longer foot tufts, claws or talons, more white spotting with a lovely blue gradient to some of them, leonine mane, bright blue eyes watching her.

Unaccountably, she blushed. And blushed hard!

Clearing her throat, still feeling her cheeks heated, she tilted her head towards the ground, welcoming the somewhat cooler air across them. "Mystic of the Aether's Defiance greets you in return," she replied, hoping she got the phrasing right. Her father hadn't learned much of etiquette, growing up, that he could pass on, and her mother did love the races!

Spotting a likely looking outcrop of rocks near a body of water, she flicked an ear, "Would that rocky area near the water suit you? I'm curious as to what he might have to say in regards to his guests." The last word practically dripped with disdain.


(Annnnd apparently all the muse needed to get things going was the realization of a very sudden deadline >> Woo! More talking! Less flying!)

For the moment their eyes met, one looking at the other and knowing it, Rain couldn't help but think Aether became a bit self-conscious. Maybe it was the shift of her ear or something about the mare's black eyes. Stone before the gaggle but not the Misery? Quite interesting. Usually went the other way around...

Speaking of, Rain suddenly felt very glad he wasn't one of those guests, not yet at least. Because even with the flow of air around them, he clearly heard the Mystic's distaste for said guests. Almost seemed like there was something more there, he thought as his eyes finally drift from Aether to the spot she indicated. The stallion gave a nod for it, "That will do."

The Misery tilted over into a bank, first away from Aether then back over to pass before and beneath her, gaining a touch of speed and leading the way with his casual dive. He still remembered the initial look she shot him when he stole some wind from her wings, and an amused little grin curled the corner of his mouth for it, but maybe best not to beg a repeat so soon.

Abbreviated hunks of smoothed and beveled boulders lay scattered across the stony crest, as if water had swept through long ago, and the nearby lake was all that remained of it. Flowing bands of burgundy, tan, and glinting gray rock greeted Rain as he backwinged up a scattering of dust before dropping to his claws with a sharp rap of ticks. A brief, pleased note thrummed in his throat as the clean scent of water rolled over him even more enticingly than usual - it had been quite the flight.

Rain turned and waited for Aether to join him, "Appreciated. So do you want the long or the short of it?"

((Working on it! ^^ And funny how muses work...))

Aether watched with appreciation of his smooth flying. Having grown up in a craggy spire, she knew some of the tricks to make flying easier, and his apparent mastery of flight was wonderful to watch. Allowing him a head-start, she turned after him and followed him down to the water, taking a brief detour to skim across the the surface of the lake, kicking up a short spray behind her.

Angling herself back towards the rocky area where Windswept Rain waited for her. And wasn't that a new occurrence! Usually it was meet for a bit, maybe have a conversation, and then parting ways. She'd never had an encounter be this pleasant, really! Well, there was that one time, in a cave, where it had been torrential rains outside, and the odd Misery that lived there, had watched her warily, but didn't kick her out.

Landing near Windswept Rain, she couldn't help but grin at him, her natural cheerfulness and curiosity having return. "Oh, let's go for the long of it. Might as well hear how he plans to either make excuses for the youngsters in his area, or deal with them!"

"Hm!" Rain mused as the mare played upon the water. Now that's something I didn't expect... And if her detour was unexpected, Aether's infectious grin thoroughly bemused him, even while Rain couldn't help but mirror it. It seemed so genuine just then, but it couldn't be, could it?

Rain chuckled for the situation, "Give me a moment to fill in a few empty spaces then. You flew off so fast, he hadn't a whole lot of time to tell me himself." Or no time at all, to be more precise, so Rain made a brief show of glancing off and humming a thoughtful note. "Breath of the Spring Meadow would like me to convey how terribly sorry he is for that gaggle of fools, and that he would ensure things were set to right if you chose to return. I'd say he would have intervened much earlier if he hadn't been busy with me." Rain suddenly gave a snort and looked off in the direction from where they came, "And now that I think about it, it's all very ironic." His glance returned to Aether with a curious cant, "Spring Meadow had been asking me to leave to avoid the sort of scene that happened with you. I guess it's easier to wish a Misery away than a pretty Mystic mare."

A hint of bitterness might have crept beneath those words, but Rain covered it well. Aether's cheery demeanor helped more than a little too, so a bit of the grin she gave him remained despite it all.

((Also, Also, sorry for the wait! My energy for writing got drained away on me. >.< ))